Purpose
Some legislation contains substantively distinct provisions that can be considered and evaluated independently of the legislation as a whole. ProjectGov identifies these provisions as components and presents them alongside the full bill for user consideration.
The intent is to allow users to express nuanced positions — supporting or opposing specific provisions — and to compare component-level sentiment to overall support for the legislation. This comparison is particularly valuable in understanding why legislation with broadly popular provisions can still fail, or why legislation with unpopular provisions can still pass.
Identification Criteria
A provision qualifies as a component when it meets one or more of the following criteria. All criteria are applied without regard to the political or policy content of the provision.
- Independent legal effect — The provision creates, modifies, or eliminates a legal right, obligation, prohibition, or entitlement that exists independently of other provisions in the legislation.
- Independent budgetary effect — The provision appropriates, authorizes, or rescinds funding through a mechanism that is distinct from other provisions, including separate appropriations accounts, funding streams, or authorization levels.
- Independent effective dates — The provision has a start or stop date that differs materially from the rest of the legislation, including sunset clauses, delayed effective dates, or time-limited authorizations.
- Distinct implementing authority — The provision designates a different agency, department, official, or regulatory body as the primary implementing authority than is designated elsewhere in the legislation.
- Distinct affected population — The provision applies to a materially different population of individuals, entities, or geographic areas than other provisions, such that its effects are separable from the broader legislation.
- Severability — The validity and operation of the remaining provisions of the legislation would be substantially unaffected if this provision were removed.
Purely technical, definitional, or administrative provisions — such as findings, purposes sections, definitions, cross-references, or clerical amendments — are not treated as components regardless of their length or complexity.
Component Categories
Each identified component is assigned to one of the following categories based on its primary function within the legislation.
Core Policy
The central substantive provision of the legislation — the primary action the bill is designed to accomplish.
Funding
Provisions that appropriate, authorize, or restrict funding, including spending levels, appropriations accounts, and funding mechanisms.
Regulatory
Provisions that establish, modify, or eliminate regulatory requirements, standards, or rulemaking authority.
Enforcement
Provisions that establish penalties, enforcement mechanisms, judicial review rights, or compliance requirements.
Exemptions
Provisions that carve out specific populations, entities, activities, or circumstances from the application of the legislation.
Sunset
Provisions that establish termination dates, reauthorization requirements, or time-limited authorities.
Rider
Provisions that are substantively unrelated to the primary purpose of the legislation but are included within it.
Grouped
Multiple qualifying provisions that are combined into a single component when the five-component maximum is reached.
Component Limits and Grouping
ProjectGov applies a maximum of five components per bill to preserve usability and encourage broad participation. Research on survey design and civic engagement suggests that presenting more than five distinct choices significantly reduces participation rates and the quality of responses.
Grouping Process
When a bill contains more than five qualifying provisions, less impactful provisions are grouped into a single "Grouped" component. Grouping priority is determined algorithmically based on the following factors, applied in order:
- Provisions with narrower affected populations are grouped before those with broader populations
- Provisions with smaller independent budgetary effects are grouped before those with larger effects
- Enforcement and procedural provisions are grouped before substantive policy provisions
- Provisions with shorter effective durations are grouped before those with longer or permanent effects
Grouping is automated and politically independent. ProjectGov does not make editorial judgments about which provisions are more or less important from a policy perspective.
Automation and Human Review
Component identification is performed by automated tools, including large language models trained on legislative text. Automated tools analyze the full text of each bill version as made publicly available by Congress.
When resources permit, automated outputs are reviewed by human editors before publication. Human review focuses on verifying that identification criteria were applied correctly and that component descriptions accurately reflect the legislative text. Human reviewers do not modify component assignments based on policy preferences.
ProjectGov acknowledges that automated tools can misinterpret legislative language, particularly in complex or ambiguous provisions. Known limitations include:
- Difficulty distinguishing substantive from technical provisions in densely cross-referenced legislation
- Inconsistent treatment of provisions that satisfy multiple criteria simultaneously
- Potential misclassification of category when a provision serves multiple functions
- Errors in identifying affected populations when population scope is defined by cross-reference to other statutes
Versioning and Amendment Tracking
When legislation is amended, ProjectGov generates a new component set from the amended text and compares it to the prior version. Changes are classified as additions, modifications, or removals based on a field-by-field comparison of component content.
User votes cast on components that were modified are invalidated and users are prompted to review and re-vote. Votes on unchanged components are carried forward. Historical results from each version are preserved and accessible for comparison.
A user's votes are excluded from current results after two consecutive component versions pass without the user updating their position. This policy is intended to ensure that current results reflect active, informed participation rather than stale positions on substantially different legislation.
Feedback and Corrections
ProjectGov welcomes feedback on component identification errors. If you believe a component has been incorrectly identified, categorized, or described, please contact us at [email protected]. We review all feedback and correct errors as resources permit.
These criteria are subject to revision as ProjectGov's methods improve. Material changes to criteria will be noted and dated on this page.
Last updated: April 2025